No pictures to post, but I did have a fun time! I went w/ 3 girls for the MOPS Convention. If you have a child under 1st grade, and have not heard of MOPS, I encourage you to RUN to their website and find a group. I was invited to my first MOPS meeting while pregnant w/ Makenna and living in a new city w/ no family. It was such a HUGE blessing for me, I promised if I was able to move back home, I would start a chapter at our church. We were able to move back home and I did start a group. Still going strong and as my husband believes, I continue to have children so I can guarantee my spot in the group! HA!
We stayed at the Gaylord Palms, which was very nice. The convention was in the hotel. I think there was almost 6000 Moms there! Matt Redmond led worship, Sara Groves sang, amazing speakers, wonderful encouragment, dinners where I just worried about ME! Sleeping w/ no little bodies crawling in the bed. Very fun!
My favorite workshop I attended (actually I attended 2 by the same speaker) was by a mom, Lysa TerKeurst. Have you heard of her? Please go and check out her blog. I did not realize it, but I had heard of her through the grapevine. She was on Oprah awhile back w/ her story about adopting teenage boys from Liberia. I had not seen the show, but the story was amazing. She was amazing. First, if you can go to her blog, you can watch the oprah show clip. www.lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com If you have the chance, get one of her books. I finished one on the plane home called What Happens When Woman Say Yes to God. That is my prayer, that I am always willing to listen, and hear and have a heart that yearns to say YES!!
Fun to get away, but I was happy to be home. Mark did great with the kids, as if we worried he wouldn't! He is Super Dad for sure. (though my parents did take the 3 to the lake for part of the time) 4 kids, doing the homeschool, working and not a complaint!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
When You are a Spicy Girl..........
Walking on the table makes sense
Sitting on the table also makes sense, till caught!
The couch is a perfect canvas
Or the desk and chair for artwork?
Hands are good for all that creativity
Climbing is good exercise
Jumping on the couch is fun
Big slides are fast
Climbing on the bar stool on the tile by myself, why not?When we landed in Hunan, the first thing we heard from our guide was, oh Hunan Babies are Spicy Girls. We just laughed and during our time in China, we knew she was wrong. Our Sage was just perfect and so easy. Then we hit american soil and Sage began to move. And she grew. And she has fulfilled her nickname w/ a capital S! Ms Spice is a VERY busy little girl. As you can see, she is always on the move. She makes me tired, she makes us all tired! Now being number 4, I know this age is busy. And we all swore Malaine was part monkey as a baby because she was always climbing. But this, just watching her will stress you out! She does not stop moving until she crashes in her bed to sleep. Amazingly, she has not climbed out of her crib yet, I dread that day. You can't turn your back on her for a minute, which makes it interesting when you are trying to be teacher to Makenna and Sawyer. But along w/ the spice we get a whole lot of sugar to. She has the sweetest little voice ever. She loves to talk and her favorite word is mama, which I get to hear a million times a day. Her new thing is to grab my face and talk to me, which is just to sweet. And even when spicy, she does it w/ a smile. Sigh...
Sugar and Spice and everything nice, that is what our Sage is made of!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Sage meets Lilly!
Lilly and her mommy Renee
Beautiful Lilly
Being Silly
Rule #1, don't touch the pacifier!
Hello All, I am 11 months old today!
We were finally able to meet Lilly this week. She is BEAUTIFUL! It is an amazing thing when you wait forever w/ someone for their baby, pray for them and then finally see them in person. Someone who shares such a history, and walked where we walked. Mark came upstairs and thought she looked very much like Sage one year ago. And she really does. From the way she looks to the way she acts. It was almost shocking to me really, bringing those memories flooding in.
Sage was not quite sure about this little person who resembled her and was bold enough to crawl into her own Mama's lap! I have not seen her show jelousy, but Lilly brought it out! Maybe it is the chinese sister thing? That or the fact that we were way past nap time and so she went to bed through part of the visit!
We are so thankful Lilly is home w/ her family, isn't her mommy glowing? Prayers answered in God's perfect timing.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Malaine Starts School!
Malaine is offically a preschooler now! She attends 3 mornings a week and so far is loving it. Our pastors wife is her teacher and she loves Ms Sheila. She is also thrilled because she gets to see her cousin Jaylyn at school. (pictured above) Along w/ the fact that her grandma works there and so she drives her part of the time. Life is good for Ms Malaine Shaye!
To come I promise: Celebrating all 4 kids birthday--Meeting Ms Lilly who is home from China!--Are we surviving homeschooling--A day in the life of a spicy girl-- AND I am heading to Orlando for 5 DAYS for the MOPS convention. Moms only. Mark is going to be working, teaching, parenting, cooking, surviving w/ 4! Will post pictures!
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Annah's Smile!
Good news from Annah Land! Kathy says that prayers are being answered and that Ms Annah Blu is full of smiles and I love you's! Here is a quote from Kathy..
"She has been so sweet today. She was babbling to me and I asked our guide what she said and she told me she said she loved me in Chinese.I asked how to say it back and Helen told me how so I repeated it and she said it again and smiled and hugged me. My heart sung. She has made a 180 and were loving it. She likes to hold hands, throw kisses and wrinkle her little nose."
I am sorry, Kathy has a private yahoo group, or I would pass on the link to you. But thank you for your prayers and know they are working!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
A Sweet New Face
While we waited for Sage, I joined a Yahoo group of families all around the world who shared a Log in Date near us. All different agencies, all different reason, but all on the same road to China as we were. Waiting together. They had a secret pal program you could join, and you would get randomly matched up w/ another waiting family and then you could secretly send them encouragement. They sent me the name of who I would send to, and her name was Kathy. She lived only 2 hours from me. At first I had hoped for a family in Australia, or somewhere cool! But instead I was matched w/ someone almost near home! But wow, what a blessing that match turned out to be for me! Kathy is AMAZING! When we were matched, she was in the process of going to China for her 5th child, her 3rd from China. She went to China for Kenzie long before I left for Sage. While I waited, she cheered me on, encouraged me and was just a sweet reminder every day of why the wait would be worth it. She has the biggest heart and I really just love her! As you can see, her family is growing again! She is in china now getting their new baby, the final promise that God has for her. A beautiful baby girl, who is very close to Sage's age. Ms Annah Blu. But poor Annah is a very Blu little girl! She was in foster care and is grieving very hard. Kathy has said she stands by the door and just cries to go. I have been heartbroken just reading her post's. So, if you would, please pray for them. That Annah would allow them to just love her, hold her, touch her. That Kathy and her husband would have peace. And pray for their kids back home. It is one thing to leave 3 children behind, 5 is a different story! Kathy knows, she has been to China 3 times before, that this is natural. But for mommy's who wait for months and months to hold those babies, it is hard to be patient.
Ms Annah Blu, your forever family now has you!
Friday, August 31, 2007
One Year Forever Home & A Family of 6!
August 31st,2006
Psalm 68:6
God sets the lonely in families.
Yes, we are home! I will go back and update about leaving China later, but at least wanted to get this update out there so you know we did make it! Our flight from LA to Denver was easy, quick, Sage slept. Coming into Denver they told us it was going to be rough, there were thunderstorm clouds approaching. Which did concern us a little for the flight home. We had a 3 hour layover in Denver, and again, Sage was great. We got on the plane to leave, and then were told we could not take off due to lightening. So for 2 HOURS we sat on the plane. We were able to call home to let them know, but Mark and I were both upset. We were tired, and we were ready to be home. We finally took off and landed in St Louis around 8:30. They announced on the plane a welcome to Sage coming home from China which was very sweet! We hurried off the plane as fast as we could, and we could hear our crowd long before we could see them! As soon as they got view of us, they were screaming and yelling and oh was it a good sound! We had waited for 18 days to hear that sound and see those faces waiting there for us! Makenna and Malaine were all about Sage that is for sure! But Sawyer grabbed on to us and said, don't ever leave me again! Sage did great, smiling and happy as could be to be passed all around. As I stood there with our family and friends holding on to Sage with the love and tears pouring onto her, God whispered to me. She was born there, but this is her home. She was birthed by those people, but these are now her people. These are the faces of the ones who wanted her, and will forever love her. It was a sweet feeling to know that we are all exactly where we belong.
We did lose one suitcase in Denver, but they promised it would be delivered by 9 am friday and it was. Leaving the airport we had fun trying to get Sage into the car seat. Took us a few minutes to figure out getting her strapped in, guess I did nor refresh myself enough on those straps! She did scream on the way home, remember these kids have never been in a car seat, but fell asleep taking a bottle. The kids were fighting over who could lean forward in their seats so they could stare at her.
We went back to our house along with the crowd for a party for Sage. I appreciate everyone coming, it was so late and not what the plan was supposed to be, but we were so glad to be able to be with everyone and share Sage. There was a spread of goodies, along with a beautiful cake that Sage enjoyed squishing her toes in! Our house was decorated so cute in pink from my mops steering team and they had a wonderful bouquet of fresh flowers waiting for Sage. The kids all had a good time playing with Sage and she just lights up when watching them!
Sage was asleep by midnight, the rest of us around 1ish. It felt good to be in my soft, VERY soft bed, but I am coming down with a sore throat, so that kept me from sleeping well. Sage was up at 530, right when i took cold medicine, so thankfully mark was kind enough to get up with her. Today Marks brother Brett, wife Amy and their kids Tyler and Graham were able to come in from Kansas City to meet Sage. Mark's parents brought dinner which was great.
Sage has wanted to sleep alot, but we are trying to keep her up as much as possible to get her switched. We are exhausted. I really do feel about like I did after giving birth. Emotionally drained, and so tired. 2 days of no sleep wears on you! Plus our bodies are just so confused on why we are up right now, when we should be in bed.
It is good to finally be with all of our kids. They are all overly tired, but they really adore their new baby sister. And she is pretty impressed by them! She just watches them. She is really taking to Makenna, probably because she is giving her the most attention of all of them. Malaine is being my big diaper helper, but she is also having a hard time. Hoping some good sleep will help her out, but she is really wanting me to hold her and do things for her. Understandable. It was a long trip and she lost her place as baby. Sawyer had some big brother snuggle time w/ Sage since he is always up so early. And like everyone else, Sage thinks her big brother is funny!
Please pray for all of us as we adjust. Mark and I just want to get out of this fog we are in, we feel as if we are walking zombies! Pray that we can give all 4 kids the attention they need. We have to find a balance in giving the 3 individual time and attention, yet still trying to bond with Sage. I know that we will be fine with some rest and time.
I will probably move my postings over to the blog, after I finish up the travel journal. I do plan to fill in the days I missed, when my eyes stop swimming!
Psalm 68:6
God sets the lonely in families.
Yes, we are home! I will go back and update about leaving China later, but at least wanted to get this update out there so you know we did make it! Our flight from LA to Denver was easy, quick, Sage slept. Coming into Denver they told us it was going to be rough, there were thunderstorm clouds approaching. Which did concern us a little for the flight home. We had a 3 hour layover in Denver, and again, Sage was great. We got on the plane to leave, and then were told we could not take off due to lightening. So for 2 HOURS we sat on the plane. We were able to call home to let them know, but Mark and I were both upset. We were tired, and we were ready to be home. We finally took off and landed in St Louis around 8:30. They announced on the plane a welcome to Sage coming home from China which was very sweet! We hurried off the plane as fast as we could, and we could hear our crowd long before we could see them! As soon as they got view of us, they were screaming and yelling and oh was it a good sound! We had waited for 18 days to hear that sound and see those faces waiting there for us! Makenna and Malaine were all about Sage that is for sure! But Sawyer grabbed on to us and said, don't ever leave me again! Sage did great, smiling and happy as could be to be passed all around. As I stood there with our family and friends holding on to Sage with the love and tears pouring onto her, God whispered to me. She was born there, but this is her home. She was birthed by those people, but these are now her people. These are the faces of the ones who wanted her, and will forever love her. It was a sweet feeling to know that we are all exactly where we belong.
We did lose one suitcase in Denver, but they promised it would be delivered by 9 am friday and it was. Leaving the airport we had fun trying to get Sage into the car seat. Took us a few minutes to figure out getting her strapped in, guess I did nor refresh myself enough on those straps! She did scream on the way home, remember these kids have never been in a car seat, but fell asleep taking a bottle. The kids were fighting over who could lean forward in their seats so they could stare at her.
We went back to our house along with the crowd for a party for Sage. I appreciate everyone coming, it was so late and not what the plan was supposed to be, but we were so glad to be able to be with everyone and share Sage. There was a spread of goodies, along with a beautiful cake that Sage enjoyed squishing her toes in! Our house was decorated so cute in pink from my mops steering team and they had a wonderful bouquet of fresh flowers waiting for Sage. The kids all had a good time playing with Sage and she just lights up when watching them!
Sage was asleep by midnight, the rest of us around 1ish. It felt good to be in my soft, VERY soft bed, but I am coming down with a sore throat, so that kept me from sleeping well. Sage was up at 530, right when i took cold medicine, so thankfully mark was kind enough to get up with her. Today Marks brother Brett, wife Amy and their kids Tyler and Graham were able to come in from Kansas City to meet Sage. Mark's parents brought dinner which was great.
Sage has wanted to sleep alot, but we are trying to keep her up as much as possible to get her switched. We are exhausted. I really do feel about like I did after giving birth. Emotionally drained, and so tired. 2 days of no sleep wears on you! Plus our bodies are just so confused on why we are up right now, when we should be in bed.
It is good to finally be with all of our kids. They are all overly tired, but they really adore their new baby sister. And she is pretty impressed by them! She just watches them. She is really taking to Makenna, probably because she is giving her the most attention of all of them. Malaine is being my big diaper helper, but she is also having a hard time. Hoping some good sleep will help her out, but she is really wanting me to hold her and do things for her. Understandable. It was a long trip and she lost her place as baby. Sawyer had some big brother snuggle time w/ Sage since he is always up so early. And like everyone else, Sage thinks her big brother is funny!
Please pray for all of us as we adjust. Mark and I just want to get out of this fog we are in, we feel as if we are walking zombies! Pray that we can give all 4 kids the attention they need. We have to find a balance in giving the 3 individual time and attention, yet still trying to bond with Sage. I know that we will be fine with some rest and time.
I will probably move my postings over to the blog, after I finish up the travel journal. I do plan to fill in the days I missed, when my eyes stop swimming!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Looking Back at our Last Day in China
I just love the way her hand was hanging on to me and wrapped in my bracelet.
Evie is not so sure about sharing her stroller, or maybe just jelous of the bow? ha!
Todd enjoying the pigeon, we enjoyed the other parts of the pigeon!
Dreaming of home!August 30th,2006
Romans 8 :28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.
Taking a while, but I am finally going back to update this last page of my travel journal, our final day in China.
We woke and went to our last breakfast at the buffet. Mark said we should eat light, since we were planning to eat lunch with some of our friends. But I felt the need to overflow my plate, I would never get that yummy French toast again! It was so weird, knowing we would never eat at this hotel overlooking the Pearl River again.
Right after breakfast we began to make our rounds to the shops who we had ordered things from. Sadly, no one had our things ready. Lesson number 100. Order your things early, and tell them you are leaving the day before you actually do leave. Granted, I ordered a lot. But we were panicked. We headed back to the room to finish up packing. I left lots of things behind. Our suitcases were overflowing. For lunch we ate at a Cantonese Restaurant in the White Swan, with Jennifer & Todd, Lori and Vinnie. We tried Pigeon, and it was really good. Despite the head on the plate! I think we got a good shot of Todd acting as if he is going to try that part! Fried Green Beans were wonderful, all the food there was really good. Sage slept through lunch, in my arms.
Mark went out and picked up the rest of our orders, only one jacket out of 18 custom made outfits was not finished. Jennifer offered to pick it up for me and ship it to me from the states. No other options, we had to go.
They picked up all our luggage(one great thing, every hotel, they pick up your luggage at your room and get it to where it needs to go) and we loaded the bus for the US Consulate Appointment. It was about a 45 minute drive. Sabrina gave a speech on the way over, which did not help my already weepy emotions. Yes, I was excited to get home, but so sad to leave all these new friends I had met. Much less to leave China, Sages birthcountry. One thing she said that really struck my heart. She said, these mothers do not want to give up their babies. And while we have no idea why Sage was given up, I do want to believe that she was loved, and that her birthmother made a choice to give her up in hopes of a better future for her. There were other options that her mother could have taken, and so we are forever thankful that she chose this road for her baby, our daughter.
We were not allowed to take photo’s in the Consulate. We were also not allowed to take in any liquids so some of our group lost their thermos full of water for formula. We had to go through security to get in. Then we were ushered up to a window, they checked to make sure that Sage matched the picture on her visa. We took an oath as a group, swearing to take care of these babies,which was so moving to me. There were about 50 plus families in the room with us all different agencies. Looking around and seeing all these mommy’s and daddy’s, and all these new babies, some screaming, some sleeping, some laughing, it was just amazing. These parents who have been through exactly what we have been through to get our babies… We were then given Sage’s visa and we left. We did not realize that we were going to be leaving our group right there to go to the airport. We jumped back on our bus, presented Sabrina with a parting group gift. We collected almost $600 we donated in her name to one of the CHI foundations, that helps kids in need get much needed surgeries. And then we had to say goodbye. It was so hard. These families who we have been with for 2 weeks. The ones who watched us become parents to Sage, and who we watched become families. They were our support through each day in China. We might never see them again. It was a quick goodbye, but full of sweet memories that will stay on my heart forever.
We headed to the airport and stood in line forever to get checked in. If the line was a sign of our flight, it was going to be full. We had to go through customs and we had these papers we had to fill out and hand over. Well we hand him Sage’s and he said, you should have filled this out in Chinese, this time I will help you, but next time, Chinese. What? Ok, next time, I will practice up my Chinese handwriting and do that. We had a “western” dinner while waiting, but I got a chicken sandwich which was very spicy and very chewy. I am ready for American normal chicken! The wait was short and soon we were boarding the plane. We did have 6 CHI couples on our flight. 4 Hunan Families along w/ the cutie from our flight in, Lillie and her new sister! We settled in on the plane and we were off. It was a very full flight this time, and we did not receive ANY special treatment this time as before. In fact, we did not see much of the flight attendants on this flight. They served dinner right away, which was rice and some sort of spicy meat. Sage fell asleep pretty quickly. Our seats were the 2 on the side. We had hoped for bulkhead, in that area sometimes you can get a bassinet. But it was fine, Sage fell asleep on my lap, and slept for most of the entire flight. I actually slept a little bit myself. Though we had terrible turbulence on that flight, which surprised me, the way over was so smooth. Being on a Chinese airline, the movies were bad. We could find nothing in English! With only about 2 hours to go, they finally served breakfast. And that is when Sage decided to wake up, and have a bad, I mean REALLY bad diaper blow out. Less than 2 minutes after they set down my tray, might I add, WITH the food cart in the aisle. Thankfully one of the bathrooms in our area was a wheelchair accessible, so it was larger. Of course getting out of my seat covered in, well, just covered, getting around the breakfast cart, all the while the flight attendants trying to ignore me and the stench I think, then waiting in line for that one bathroom which happened to be occupied FOREVER!! Thank goodness I had packed clothes for me and Sage both in our carry on. I quickly lost my appetite at that point! And that little incident did help to pass the last part of the flight pretty quickly! We landed in Los Angeles at 7:30PM. Have I mentioned that the Chinese pilots land differently than US pilots? They are rough, I don’t know why, but we both noticed that they land so much harder! It did go through my head, we saw how they drive, and we actually trust them to fly us!? Good thing I flew China Southern before I rode in a chinese taxi! We rushed off the plane as quickly as we could, we were told to hurry and get in line for US immigrations. There was some man there who had us get in one line, then tried to make us get into another line, which we all refused to budge. When we asked why, he said “Because that is the way it is”. And you know me, that just ticked me off and I thought, you want me to move, and stand in a longer line, AFTER waiting in this line, you will have to pick me up and move me. This is America, I know my rights and I have been on a plane for 15 hours. Thankfully we did not get hauled off to the police station, we stayed in our spot and we made it through. It was so nuts that we did not get to say goodbye to all our friends as we would have liked, but it was good to be on US soil for sure! We gathered our luggage and jumped on the shuttle to our hotel for the night.
By 8:30 we were checking into our room at the Sheraton. We paid $150.00 to stay at this hotel, and I guess we were so spoiled from China hotels, but it felt like a dump! I guess I should not go that far, but it was not the White Swan! Except of course for the heavenly beds! They were well worth the $! We dumped our luggage into the room, and went downstairs for our first American Meal. We both had steak, mashed potatoes, it was good! No pointing at the menu to order, we did not have to ask them to leave out the spice or ice from our drinks! But our dinner was so quiet. This was the first time we had been alone and it was strange! Sage had no friends, we had no one, our trip was really coming to an end.
Mark and I were exhausted, but not our little angel who had slept almost the entire flight, she was ready to go! So it was a very short night in our soft beds! At least they were comfy to lay on awake. By 4am we gave up and got ready for the airport. Mark took a hike down the road to get diapers, we were out. We took the shuttle to the airport and guess what, Sage fell asleep and continued to sleep for most of the day. Mark and I were both so anxious now. Home, we are coming home!
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.
Taking a while, but I am finally going back to update this last page of my travel journal, our final day in China.
We woke and went to our last breakfast at the buffet. Mark said we should eat light, since we were planning to eat lunch with some of our friends. But I felt the need to overflow my plate, I would never get that yummy French toast again! It was so weird, knowing we would never eat at this hotel overlooking the Pearl River again.
Right after breakfast we began to make our rounds to the shops who we had ordered things from. Sadly, no one had our things ready. Lesson number 100. Order your things early, and tell them you are leaving the day before you actually do leave. Granted, I ordered a lot. But we were panicked. We headed back to the room to finish up packing. I left lots of things behind. Our suitcases were overflowing. For lunch we ate at a Cantonese Restaurant in the White Swan, with Jennifer & Todd, Lori and Vinnie. We tried Pigeon, and it was really good. Despite the head on the plate! I think we got a good shot of Todd acting as if he is going to try that part! Fried Green Beans were wonderful, all the food there was really good. Sage slept through lunch, in my arms.
Mark went out and picked up the rest of our orders, only one jacket out of 18 custom made outfits was not finished. Jennifer offered to pick it up for me and ship it to me from the states. No other options, we had to go.
They picked up all our luggage(one great thing, every hotel, they pick up your luggage at your room and get it to where it needs to go) and we loaded the bus for the US Consulate Appointment. It was about a 45 minute drive. Sabrina gave a speech on the way over, which did not help my already weepy emotions. Yes, I was excited to get home, but so sad to leave all these new friends I had met. Much less to leave China, Sages birthcountry. One thing she said that really struck my heart. She said, these mothers do not want to give up their babies. And while we have no idea why Sage was given up, I do want to believe that she was loved, and that her birthmother made a choice to give her up in hopes of a better future for her. There were other options that her mother could have taken, and so we are forever thankful that she chose this road for her baby, our daughter.
We were not allowed to take photo’s in the Consulate. We were also not allowed to take in any liquids so some of our group lost their thermos full of water for formula. We had to go through security to get in. Then we were ushered up to a window, they checked to make sure that Sage matched the picture on her visa. We took an oath as a group, swearing to take care of these babies,which was so moving to me. There were about 50 plus families in the room with us all different agencies. Looking around and seeing all these mommy’s and daddy’s, and all these new babies, some screaming, some sleeping, some laughing, it was just amazing. These parents who have been through exactly what we have been through to get our babies… We were then given Sage’s visa and we left. We did not realize that we were going to be leaving our group right there to go to the airport. We jumped back on our bus, presented Sabrina with a parting group gift. We collected almost $600 we donated in her name to one of the CHI foundations, that helps kids in need get much needed surgeries. And then we had to say goodbye. It was so hard. These families who we have been with for 2 weeks. The ones who watched us become parents to Sage, and who we watched become families. They were our support through each day in China. We might never see them again. It was a quick goodbye, but full of sweet memories that will stay on my heart forever.
We headed to the airport and stood in line forever to get checked in. If the line was a sign of our flight, it was going to be full. We had to go through customs and we had these papers we had to fill out and hand over. Well we hand him Sage’s and he said, you should have filled this out in Chinese, this time I will help you, but next time, Chinese. What? Ok, next time, I will practice up my Chinese handwriting and do that. We had a “western” dinner while waiting, but I got a chicken sandwich which was very spicy and very chewy. I am ready for American normal chicken! The wait was short and soon we were boarding the plane. We did have 6 CHI couples on our flight. 4 Hunan Families along w/ the cutie from our flight in, Lillie and her new sister! We settled in on the plane and we were off. It was a very full flight this time, and we did not receive ANY special treatment this time as before. In fact, we did not see much of the flight attendants on this flight. They served dinner right away, which was rice and some sort of spicy meat. Sage fell asleep pretty quickly. Our seats were the 2 on the side. We had hoped for bulkhead, in that area sometimes you can get a bassinet. But it was fine, Sage fell asleep on my lap, and slept for most of the entire flight. I actually slept a little bit myself. Though we had terrible turbulence on that flight, which surprised me, the way over was so smooth. Being on a Chinese airline, the movies were bad. We could find nothing in English! With only about 2 hours to go, they finally served breakfast. And that is when Sage decided to wake up, and have a bad, I mean REALLY bad diaper blow out. Less than 2 minutes after they set down my tray, might I add, WITH the food cart in the aisle. Thankfully one of the bathrooms in our area was a wheelchair accessible, so it was larger. Of course getting out of my seat covered in, well, just covered, getting around the breakfast cart, all the while the flight attendants trying to ignore me and the stench I think, then waiting in line for that one bathroom which happened to be occupied FOREVER!! Thank goodness I had packed clothes for me and Sage both in our carry on. I quickly lost my appetite at that point! And that little incident did help to pass the last part of the flight pretty quickly! We landed in Los Angeles at 7:30PM. Have I mentioned that the Chinese pilots land differently than US pilots? They are rough, I don’t know why, but we both noticed that they land so much harder! It did go through my head, we saw how they drive, and we actually trust them to fly us!? Good thing I flew China Southern before I rode in a chinese taxi! We rushed off the plane as quickly as we could, we were told to hurry and get in line for US immigrations. There was some man there who had us get in one line, then tried to make us get into another line, which we all refused to budge. When we asked why, he said “Because that is the way it is”. And you know me, that just ticked me off and I thought, you want me to move, and stand in a longer line, AFTER waiting in this line, you will have to pick me up and move me. This is America, I know my rights and I have been on a plane for 15 hours. Thankfully we did not get hauled off to the police station, we stayed in our spot and we made it through. It was so nuts that we did not get to say goodbye to all our friends as we would have liked, but it was good to be on US soil for sure! We gathered our luggage and jumped on the shuttle to our hotel for the night.
By 8:30 we were checking into our room at the Sheraton. We paid $150.00 to stay at this hotel, and I guess we were so spoiled from China hotels, but it felt like a dump! I guess I should not go that far, but it was not the White Swan! Except of course for the heavenly beds! They were well worth the $! We dumped our luggage into the room, and went downstairs for our first American Meal. We both had steak, mashed potatoes, it was good! No pointing at the menu to order, we did not have to ask them to leave out the spice or ice from our drinks! But our dinner was so quiet. This was the first time we had been alone and it was strange! Sage had no friends, we had no one, our trip was really coming to an end.
Mark and I were exhausted, but not our little angel who had slept almost the entire flight, she was ready to go! So it was a very short night in our soft beds! At least they were comfy to lay on awake. By 4am we gave up and got ready for the airport. Mark took a hike down the road to get diapers, we were out. We took the shuttle to the airport and guess what, Sage fell asleep and continued to sleep for most of the day. Mark and I were both so anxious now. Home, we are coming home!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Happy Gotcha Day One Year!
First moment I held Sage. What a feeling!
This was Sage's roommate Evangeline meeting her daddy Jeff. I love how Sage is watching her!
Getting to know you! (must love split pants and knee socks!)
Daddy's Little 3rd Girl!
Group Dinner, much more fun w/ babies!
All dressed up
Getting mommyOne year ago, Sage's story as a Laxton truly began. Of course we knew she was a Laxton from the moment we started the adoption. But one year ago we held her for the first time. And just like the details of birth are so clear to me from Makenna, Sawyer and Malaine, the details of that day are forever on my heart. We had prayed this child through a pregnancy in another womans tummy, a delivery, an abandonment, a stay in an orphanage. We had dreamed of what she might look like, feel like, sound like and even smell like. Unlike my pregnancy's that I knew what was going on, I had no control through that wait. I had no idea of what she was living like. I was not a patient mommy for those 18 months of waiting. But on August 21st, 2006, all of that wondering and waiting was over. I held my 4th child, my 3rd daughter. I remember when they carried her out and called us, I leaned to talk to her, and she reached out for me. I remember how perfectly she felt in my arms. So tiny, so quiet and so perfect. She just stared at us w/ those dark brown almond shaped eyes, drinking in every detail. Her hair, oh how we loved that hair! Sticking straight up. Her round cheeks and her tiny bird legs. Sage, this was the Sage we had prayed and cried and waited and longed for. Our daughter, our gift.
August 21st 2006- Gotcha Day!
Hebrews 6:15
And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Hebrews 6:15
And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
How do you put into words what just happened? What did just happen? Wasn't it just yesterday I was crying my eyes out saying this day would never come? Wasn't it yesterday, God told us we were going to add to our family through adoption? Wasn't it just yesterday I said goodbye to my kids in St Louis? The Lord is faithful, He promised us that He would bring us this child, and she is here! Thank you Lord for this gift!
I woke up at 430, better than 4! Had a little hair scare, and it is so not about Sage, but I am going to write about it anyways. We have been having issues w/ the outlets, converter not working, etc.. So I could not get my flat iron to work today. And you know I totally have high maintenance hair, I have to have an iron! There was no way I was meeting my baby w/ poofy not ironed out hair! So thankfully I find that our hotel has a salon, that would open at 9. I told Mark, no matter what the cost, I am buying a flat iron from them. He freaks out saying my hair is fine, blah blah... And starts messing w/ the outlets. He managed to figure out we were using the converter wrong, and so he got that working, the flat iron working and we were good! I knew if i threatened to spend $ he would figure it out!
Ok, ok, on to why we are here... We ate breakfast at the buffet, and chatted w/ friends. How does one do normal things such as eating breakfast, using a flat iron, etc.. When your whole world is about to change? Mark and I were in our room getting ready to leave and we stopped before leaving so we could just pray together. Our heavenly Father has been so gracious to even allow us to get this far, and before we left, we knew we needed to be w/ him first. It was such a sweet moment, that I will never forget.
Our travel group of 12 families met in the lobby and then headed over to the Civil Affairs Office. A 10 minute drive. Sabrina was telling us what to expect and how to not be surprised if the babies screamed, they are not used to foreigners w/ our big noses and different smells etc.. The big noses got a big laugh! They had hired a videographer to capture the entire thing which was great! We walked upstairs and as we were going in, a group of other families were coming out w/ their new babies. Smiles and tears on both sides of us! We walked into this large room and they announced that Chenzhou babies were not there yet, but the 3 families who were w/ us that were getting Waiting Children, theirs were there. So it was VERY tearful to watch them get their children. Liz was first, w/ her 2 1/2 year old son. He is darling, but obviously very scared and cried so hard, which made us all cry even more! We were able to watch Owen meet his new little sister Finley and then the Curtis Family met Audrey. It was the most amazing thing watching these people become parents right in front of us! I was crying and they told us not to cry to much, only happy tears or we would scare the babies! Then there were people in the hall and they began carrying in babies, our babies! We all watched intently as they marched through our room to the next room. I could not pick out Sage at all. They brought the babies out one by one and called up each family. They would check each family's passport, check the Travel Approval then hand over the baby. It all happened so fast, I really don't remember much. I know they called our name, Yi Qiao, and there she was! I am not sure I can even put it into words. They handed her to me, and it was just right. She was in my arms and my heart knew that this was Sage. This is what I knew she would feel like. When they called my name, I said something to her and it was almost as if she reached for me. Then as we met her and talked to her, she would just study us so intently. No tears, not even a whimper. She just looked as if to say, So, you are my mom and dad! Thanks for finally getting here! After all the families had their babies, we went back to the bus and back to the hotel. This all happened w/ in an hour. We came in and laid Sage on the bed and just studied her. She just stared. She wanted to reach out and touch. We changed her diaper, yes she was wearing split pants, but w/ a diaper. Fed her a bottle, and she was out. While she was eating she started sweating, ALOT! I was soaked.
Isn't she beautiful! I am not sure the pictures show how dark she is. She has beautiful skin. She has a little bit of heat rash, but not bad. And that hair! She went from no hair to wild hair in 4 months! Everyone loves her hair. Even after her bath, it just sticks straight up! Great, she is going to have high maintenance hair too! Her hair is very black and her eyes really really dark. She also has long lashes. And yes, her cheeks are still as chunky as they were in her referral pictures! I love it! She is tiny, besides the cheeks. We weighed her in our room and it was rough of course, but it seemed to be about 13 pounds. Maybe 3 pounds of cheeks? Her bottom is so tiny, skinny legs, no bootie! Long skinny feet. My size 2 shoes are big. Size 2 diapers are a little big, but since you can tighten them are doing fine. Clothes, I am guessing my 3-6 I brought are going to be a good fit, and I think the 6-9 months will be ok since they are dresses, I guess we will see as we try more things on!
She was wearing another boy outfit, w/ Snoopy on it! Yes, she has on panty hose type knee socks. What is that about? We got nothing w/ her, nothing! Just handed her over and that was that. We did not get to talk to anyone from the orphanage, it is not the nannies who brought them. I am not sure if maybe tomorrow we might get anything or not. Does not really matter, we got what is important.
She is very curious and so far very happy. She does not sit up, but is close. When on her belly she scoots, and she can roll from her back to front. If I have her on the floor and I am not close, she pulled herself over to me. She is going to both of us fine. She reaches for me. I like that. And when she sees me, her face gets happy. Not quite a smile but almost.
She has had 2 bottles and sucked both of them down fast. She fell asleep during her bottle and she is out. When she was awake, she was busy and wants to touch everything. She about fell out of my arms trying to turn around and see things going on behind her. She does not seem scared of anyone yet. I realize that tomorrow could be a whole different story, but today, it has been easy. She has not cried yet. No noise at all. Quiet and inquisitive.
----------------------------------------------------
I wrote all of the above before dinner, so just a few more notes after dinner. We ate dinner in the hotel w/ our group. There are lots of families w/ babies here. It is fun to see! We tried to feed Sage steamed eggs at dinner. Her updated information said she was eating food. But she did not seem to know what to do w/ a spoon at all. I brought along Gerber fruit puffs and the same thing, she just looked at me like I was nuts! She barely has 2 teeth in. At dinner she began to talk a little more. She is smiling and has a little tiny laugh that is very sweet. She really watches Mark and I, studies our faces. It is as if she is saying, you are mine.
After dinner a group of us went upstairs to the hotel playroom. It is a great place w/ a wonderful view of the city. It is very interesting to watch the girls together. They do seem to like to be around each other. One of the girls, Vivian is the same age, yet she was on her knees crawling and is larger than the other 3 who were in the room. She sat and played at a toy piano, while the others are army crawling around. They are all just beautiful girls. We were only there a little while before Sage stunk up the place. That is a very good thing though! It is always a concern w/ the constipation, so we are thankful to get that out of the way.(thank you Dawn for vanilla scented trash bags!) We were worried since the girls were in split pants that maybe they were trying to put them on the potty. And they say if you don't try, it can mess them up. We were hoping to stick w/ diapers, so looks like we are good in that area.
Sage is getting more smiley as the night goes on, and I can't wait to see her unfold even more as the week goes on. We did finally hear a short cry tonight. Her bedtime bottle is supposed to be made up of formula and cereal. She could not get it out of the nipple, so while I was trying to cut it bigger, she was not happy. But she got it all down. We laid her down still a little awake and she pulled the cover up over her head. It was so sweet but made me sad. Just wondering how she slept all these nights w/ out me. What was her bedtime routine like. And what is going on in her little head right now? When she wakes up, will she look at us and think, oh great, them again? Or will she look at us and know.
Well, Mark says I better wrap it up, who is still reading to this point! Tomorrow we go and do the "official" adoption. It will be neat to see how all the babies sleep tonight! There have been tears from some, but overall I think the girls (and boy!) seem to be doing very well. Please pray that the rest of the night and week go as well! And thank you for all your prayers. I know that all of you were praying along w/ us that God would plant us on her heart, and I feel those prayers worked!
Sage is here! And I am in love.
I woke up at 430, better than 4! Had a little hair scare, and it is so not about Sage, but I am going to write about it anyways. We have been having issues w/ the outlets, converter not working, etc.. So I could not get my flat iron to work today. And you know I totally have high maintenance hair, I have to have an iron! There was no way I was meeting my baby w/ poofy not ironed out hair! So thankfully I find that our hotel has a salon, that would open at 9. I told Mark, no matter what the cost, I am buying a flat iron from them. He freaks out saying my hair is fine, blah blah... And starts messing w/ the outlets. He managed to figure out we were using the converter wrong, and so he got that working, the flat iron working and we were good! I knew if i threatened to spend $ he would figure it out!
Ok, ok, on to why we are here... We ate breakfast at the buffet, and chatted w/ friends. How does one do normal things such as eating breakfast, using a flat iron, etc.. When your whole world is about to change? Mark and I were in our room getting ready to leave and we stopped before leaving so we could just pray together. Our heavenly Father has been so gracious to even allow us to get this far, and before we left, we knew we needed to be w/ him first. It was such a sweet moment, that I will never forget.
Our travel group of 12 families met in the lobby and then headed over to the Civil Affairs Office. A 10 minute drive. Sabrina was telling us what to expect and how to not be surprised if the babies screamed, they are not used to foreigners w/ our big noses and different smells etc.. The big noses got a big laugh! They had hired a videographer to capture the entire thing which was great! We walked upstairs and as we were going in, a group of other families were coming out w/ their new babies. Smiles and tears on both sides of us! We walked into this large room and they announced that Chenzhou babies were not there yet, but the 3 families who were w/ us that were getting Waiting Children, theirs were there. So it was VERY tearful to watch them get their children. Liz was first, w/ her 2 1/2 year old son. He is darling, but obviously very scared and cried so hard, which made us all cry even more! We were able to watch Owen meet his new little sister Finley and then the Curtis Family met Audrey. It was the most amazing thing watching these people become parents right in front of us! I was crying and they told us not to cry to much, only happy tears or we would scare the babies! Then there were people in the hall and they began carrying in babies, our babies! We all watched intently as they marched through our room to the next room. I could not pick out Sage at all. They brought the babies out one by one and called up each family. They would check each family's passport, check the Travel Approval then hand over the baby. It all happened so fast, I really don't remember much. I know they called our name, Yi Qiao, and there she was! I am not sure I can even put it into words. They handed her to me, and it was just right. She was in my arms and my heart knew that this was Sage. This is what I knew she would feel like. When they called my name, I said something to her and it was almost as if she reached for me. Then as we met her and talked to her, she would just study us so intently. No tears, not even a whimper. She just looked as if to say, So, you are my mom and dad! Thanks for finally getting here! After all the families had their babies, we went back to the bus and back to the hotel. This all happened w/ in an hour. We came in and laid Sage on the bed and just studied her. She just stared. She wanted to reach out and touch. We changed her diaper, yes she was wearing split pants, but w/ a diaper. Fed her a bottle, and she was out. While she was eating she started sweating, ALOT! I was soaked.
Isn't she beautiful! I am not sure the pictures show how dark she is. She has beautiful skin. She has a little bit of heat rash, but not bad. And that hair! She went from no hair to wild hair in 4 months! Everyone loves her hair. Even after her bath, it just sticks straight up! Great, she is going to have high maintenance hair too! Her hair is very black and her eyes really really dark. She also has long lashes. And yes, her cheeks are still as chunky as they were in her referral pictures! I love it! She is tiny, besides the cheeks. We weighed her in our room and it was rough of course, but it seemed to be about 13 pounds. Maybe 3 pounds of cheeks? Her bottom is so tiny, skinny legs, no bootie! Long skinny feet. My size 2 shoes are big. Size 2 diapers are a little big, but since you can tighten them are doing fine. Clothes, I am guessing my 3-6 I brought are going to be a good fit, and I think the 6-9 months will be ok since they are dresses, I guess we will see as we try more things on!
She was wearing another boy outfit, w/ Snoopy on it! Yes, she has on panty hose type knee socks. What is that about? We got nothing w/ her, nothing! Just handed her over and that was that. We did not get to talk to anyone from the orphanage, it is not the nannies who brought them. I am not sure if maybe tomorrow we might get anything or not. Does not really matter, we got what is important.
She is very curious and so far very happy. She does not sit up, but is close. When on her belly she scoots, and she can roll from her back to front. If I have her on the floor and I am not close, she pulled herself over to me. She is going to both of us fine. She reaches for me. I like that. And when she sees me, her face gets happy. Not quite a smile but almost.
She has had 2 bottles and sucked both of them down fast. She fell asleep during her bottle and she is out. When she was awake, she was busy and wants to touch everything. She about fell out of my arms trying to turn around and see things going on behind her. She does not seem scared of anyone yet. I realize that tomorrow could be a whole different story, but today, it has been easy. She has not cried yet. No noise at all. Quiet and inquisitive.
----------------------------------------------------
I wrote all of the above before dinner, so just a few more notes after dinner. We ate dinner in the hotel w/ our group. There are lots of families w/ babies here. It is fun to see! We tried to feed Sage steamed eggs at dinner. Her updated information said she was eating food. But she did not seem to know what to do w/ a spoon at all. I brought along Gerber fruit puffs and the same thing, she just looked at me like I was nuts! She barely has 2 teeth in. At dinner she began to talk a little more. She is smiling and has a little tiny laugh that is very sweet. She really watches Mark and I, studies our faces. It is as if she is saying, you are mine.
After dinner a group of us went upstairs to the hotel playroom. It is a great place w/ a wonderful view of the city. It is very interesting to watch the girls together. They do seem to like to be around each other. One of the girls, Vivian is the same age, yet she was on her knees crawling and is larger than the other 3 who were in the room. She sat and played at a toy piano, while the others are army crawling around. They are all just beautiful girls. We were only there a little while before Sage stunk up the place. That is a very good thing though! It is always a concern w/ the constipation, so we are thankful to get that out of the way.(thank you Dawn for vanilla scented trash bags!) We were worried since the girls were in split pants that maybe they were trying to put them on the potty. And they say if you don't try, it can mess them up. We were hoping to stick w/ diapers, so looks like we are good in that area.
Sage is getting more smiley as the night goes on, and I can't wait to see her unfold even more as the week goes on. We did finally hear a short cry tonight. Her bedtime bottle is supposed to be made up of formula and cereal. She could not get it out of the nipple, so while I was trying to cut it bigger, she was not happy. But she got it all down. We laid her down still a little awake and she pulled the cover up over her head. It was so sweet but made me sad. Just wondering how she slept all these nights w/ out me. What was her bedtime routine like. And what is going on in her little head right now? When she wakes up, will she look at us and think, oh great, them again? Or will she look at us and know.
Well, Mark says I better wrap it up, who is still reading to this point! Tomorrow we go and do the "official" adoption. It will be neat to see how all the babies sleep tonight! There have been tears from some, but overall I think the girls (and boy!) seem to be doing very well. Please pray that the rest of the night and week go as well! And thank you for all your prayers. I know that all of you were praying along w/ us that God would plant us on her heart, and I feel those prayers worked!
Sage is here! And I am in love.